By Jennifer Marino
Because smoking is banned from all school property, Fireman's Field has long been the place for students and teachers alike to light one up during the school day. But Rockville Centre firefighters were sick of finding butts and other debris on the property and asked the village to ban smoking there during school hours, including all after-school activities.
The ban took affect on the first day of school and students found themselves looking for new places to smoke, many choosing the dead end of Knollwood Road much to the dismay of area homeowners.
Students hanging out on Knollwood complained about the inconvenience of the walk and the possibility of being late for class. When asked if the ban would cause them to rethink smoking, they all said no.
Dawn Kogan, a senior at South Side, is more nostalgic then angry about the change. It's my last year, she said. I had a lot of good memories from Fireman's Field.
Taralena DeRosa feels bad for the neighbors who have large numbers of teens smoking in front of their homes all day long.
It's not right for us to be in front of people's houses, De Rosa said. She said the smokers don't even have a bucket to put the cigarette butts in like they did on Fireman's Field.
Some of the neighbors have called the police and the village asking for relief.
Members of the village board have already discussed repealing the ban because of the hardship to the neighbors, but say they won't consider it unless school officials take responsibility for the cleanup of Fireman's Field.
South Side principal Carol Burris hopes that the ban might curb student smoking. She is taking the opportunity to put into place some programs to make quitting easier with the help of the school nurse and social worker.
The security guard assigned to patrol the outside of the school will tell smokers to put out their cigarettes if they are caught on Fireman's Field. If it becomes a chronic problem, disciplinary action may be taken according to Burris.
